yesterday i wrote about PARADE Magazine’s article, “How Spiritual Are We?” statistically they say that only about 15% of Americans are in a church on a given Sunday, or weekend. but according to the survey 69% of Americans believe in God.

here’s some interesting numbers as to how people are thinking. 59% of people in America believe that all religions are valid. only 12% of people believe their religion is the only valid one. i guess this is the interesting statistic for me because almost every religious leader that established a particular faith claims to be the only way to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and NO man comes to the Father, EXCEPT through me.” now either Jesus was a liar or He was telling the truth. if Buddha is the way to enlightenment, then he is or he isn’t. you cannot have two truths that are equally opposed to one another. Jesus or Buddha, you pick, it is every American’s right to do so, but don’t tell me that each is equally valid.

i wonder how this would fit our congregations? do only 12% of our church members really believe that Jesus is the only way? if this is anywhere near true for our congregations, then there needs to be a lot more evangelism in the church as well as outside the church.

but here again, i think this points us back to the book of Acts. in Peter’s day and in Paul’s day there were a myriad of religions on the scene. a lot of people claimed to be the “Christ.” in Greek and Roman culture almost every home had a “god” that was their protector. people were spiritual but without knowing God. the whole Mars Hill experience with Paul, “you are so religious you have a statue to an unknown “god.” God, my prayer is that you raise up a generation of Peters and Pauls, of Timothys and Apollos. America needs a rebirth. send us missionaries that will start churches that will proclaim truth. Build your church.

numbers tell a story. sometimes a good one, sometimes a bad one. i never apologize for keeping numbers. i know it is not the only measure of success. but as J. Maxwell says, “if no one is following you aren’t a leader.” or something like that. numbers help us know who is following.

this weekend in PARADE Magazine from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was this article, “Has America become More Spiritual?”

Here’s some of the numbers: 69% say they believe in God, 77% pray outside of religious services, 75% believe parents should give religious instruction to children.

Here’s some alarm: 45% call themselves religious but 50% of them do not attend religious services regularly if at all. “As a concrete measure of religious commitment, nothing beats counting how many bodies show up to worship every week. So how many…30% said they attend once or more in a given week. BUT … ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS WHO ACTUALLY COUNT THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS BELIEVE THAT ONLY ONE-HALF O F THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BE IN THEIR HOUSES OF WORSHIP ARE ACTUALLY THERE.” Did you get that…that means that only about 15% of Americans are in church each week. Much less than Barna reports (40%) and even less than the Presbyterian Church reported (20%) several years ago.

85% of your friends, neighbors, family, co-workers do not attend church. Now we can whine and moan. Or we can say, “What a mission field!” I read, back in my seminary days (so I don’t remember the source) that only about 10% of people in Jesus’ day actually practiced their religion. Guys (and gals) we start churches and grow churches because we are in a culture much like Paul. The Book of ACTS all over again. Is there a Paul among us?

i am working with a church looking for a pastor. this morning we talked a little about what do you ask a potential pastor.

so bloggites, if you were interviewing a potential pastor what would be the one question you would ask him? send your responses, i would love to see them. maybe i’ll copy a few and print them for your reading enjoyment.

finances, prayer life, married life, how to work with staff, vision, etc, etc. most people ask the wrong question. most interview questions are in the form of “what would you do if ________?”

the right way is to ask, “what did you do when ____?” the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. now of course this doesn’t exclude a change of heart or salvation, repentance, etc. but most of us work in ways that we have worked in the past and will work again.

if you acted in the past before being a believer you may repeat your behavior in a kinder, gentler fashion by the fruit of the Spirit, but generally you will still repeat the behavior.

so here’s the tip, when interviewing, ask what the person has done, it will give you a much better idea of what he/she will do than giving them some hypothetical situation in which they can give you a line. then here’s another clue, when checking references ask a reference about that situation.

i am a pretty good test taker. especially a multiple choice test. there are some people that freeze up on test. it is the same way with interviews. some people are naturals at answering the question with an answer you want to hear. so take the potential candidates answer and ask a reference the same question. don’t let someone b.s. you. who was it that said, “trust, but verify.” wise man, that one.